ANCESTORS DESCENDANTS of Elias Adams : The Pioneer 600-1930 Compiled and Edited by FRANK D. ADAMS (His Grandson) With Illustrations by My Mother ANNIE PENROD ADAMS Published by the Author Printed and Bound by INLAND PRINTING COMPANY Kaysville, Utah To the posterity of ELIAS ADAMS THE PIONEER, who endeavor to make the world better than they find it, this book is gratefully dedicated. -F. D. A. To the Reader You are asked to bear in mind that these are the records of only one descendant or branch of the great Adams family of New England. There are other branches both larger and smaller-notably that of Henry Adams, of Braintree, Massachusetts, and Robert Adams, of Newbury, Massachusetts, whose histories were published by Andrew N. Adams, of Fair Haven, Vermont; also "William of Ipswich," "John of Plymouth," "George of Watertown," as well as several other first comers in Massachusetts, Con­ necticut, Maine and New Hampshire. Andrew N. Adams has compiled extensive lists of all those families which could be published for the benefit of others, if there were sufficient interest among the living descendants to war­ rant the labor and expense. This record of Elias Adams was begun thirteen years ago by the. author. It has been carried forward under many difficulties and discouragements, and is now com­ pleted only through persistant determination and effort. The genealogy has been carefully and accurately gathered and compiled into its present form for the benefit of the living and future generations, as a tribute of affection for him and as a token of love to his posterity. The names of the forefathers of Elias Adams are copied verbatim from the following records in the Congressional Library at Washington, D. C.: "Robert Adams of Newbury, Massachusetts," "Henry Adams of Braintree, Massachu­ setts," both volumes by Andrew N. Adams; "Founding and Organization of the Daughters of the American Revolution," by Flora Adams Darling, and "Ancestory of Henry Adams of Braintree, Massachusetts," by Reverend Hiram Francis Fairbanks. This book contains no unhistoric or misleading state­ ments, and is an honest effort by the author to give useful and correct knowledge. It is designed to be handed down from generation to generation-to be preserved as a family memorial. To my wife and the refatives who have cheerfully and willingly given valuable assistance, I wish here to make acknowledgment of my gratitude. FRANK D. ADAMS. Layton, Utah, November, 1929. CONTENTS Chapter Page 1 ANCESTORS OF ELIA!S ADAMS ......................... ~...................... 1 2 IN THE WAR OF 1812 .................................................................... 8 3 LIFE IN ILLINOIS ............................................................................ 14 4 THE EVACUATION OF NAUVOO ................................................ 19 5 THE "MORMON" BATTALION .................................................... 27 6 WINTER QUARTERS ........................................................................ 34 7 FIRST COMPANY OF PIONEERS ................................................ 38 8 THE DONNER PARTY, 1846 .......................................................... 42 9 BRIDGER'S DESCRIPTION OF THE UTAH COUNTRY........ 51 10 THE "MORMON" ROAD ..................................... :............................ 56 l 1 "THIS IS THE PLACE" .................................................................... 57 12 MOUNT PISGAH, lOWA ................................................................ 64 13 WESTWARD HO! .............................................................................. 66 14 THE BUFFALO STAMPEDE .......................................................... 76 15 DAKOTA INDIANS .......................................................................... 80 16 FORT LARAMIE ................................................................................ 84 17 PASSAGE OF THE MOUNTAINS ................................................ 89 18 SALT LAKE CITY, 1850 .................................................................. 94 19 SELECTING A LOCATION FOR A HOME ................................ 96 20 THE HOME ..........................................................................................100 21 IRRIGATION ........................................................................................111 22 THE UTAH WAR .............................................................................. 115 23 BATTLE OF BEAR RIVER .............................................................. 124 24 EMPIRE BUILDING .......................................................................... 132 2.j THE GREAT ADVENTURE ............................................................142 26 DESCENDANTS OF ELIAS ADAMS ............................................146 SUPPLEMENT ····················--···········-··························································.257 LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS Page The Indians Concealed Themselves ···················································- 9 The Indians Laid Down Their Firearms .................................... ::':.•---··· 10 Brigham Young ............................................................................................ 21 "Mormon" Battalion Monument .............................................................. 27 The Winter was Long and Very Stormy .............................................. 37 First Company of Pioneers ...................................................................... 38 James Bridger Discovers the Great Salt Lake ...................................... 41 It was a Dreary, Desolate, Alkali, Waste ·················-····-····················· 43 Pilot Peak ··············································································-······················· 44 The Indians Knew We were Doomed ........................................................ 46 Old Fort Sutter ............................................................................................ 47 "This Is the Place" .................................................................................... 55 The "Mormon" Road .................................................................................. 56 Largest Open-cut Copper Mine in the World .......................................... 62 Westward Ho! .............................................................................................. 66 Wounded Buffalo ........................................................................................ 71 The Buffalo Hunt ........................................................................................ 72 In the Valley of the Platte Many a Grave was Passed........................ 75 The White Covered Wagons Resembling Birds of Passage Moving to a Warmer Clime .............................................................. 79 The Wagons were Arranged as Usual in a Circle.................................. 83 A Blackfoot Woman ····························································'······················· 87 Indian Scout ................................................................................................ 88 Chimney Rock .............................................................................................. 89 Portal of the Rocky Mountains .................................................................. 91 They were Standing Now Upon the Threshhold of the Land of Promise ................................................................................ 93 · The Bed of the Stream is a Solid Mass of Boulders ............................ 97 Sunset, Great Salt Lake .......................................................................... 98 The First Home of Elias A:dams the Pioneer, in the Ter- ritory of Utah ...................................................................................... 100 Clearing the Homestead of Sage-brush and Scrub Oak ....................103 I1Tigation in the Salt Lake Valley ............................................................ 112 Indian Camp ................................................................................................ 124 Chief Pocatello ............................................................................................131 Pony Express ................................................................................................ 134 Dam, East Canyon Reservoir .................................................................. 139 Administration Building, University of Utah ...................................... 141 "Go Ye, Therefore, and Teach All Nations" .......•................................ 255 Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah.................................................................... 256 LIST OF HALF TONE ILLUSTRATIONS Elias Adams the Pioneer ............................................................Frontispiece Malinda Railey Adams ............................................................................ 10 John Quincy Adams and Ellen Dolan Adams .................................... 146 George W. Ada111s ...................................................................................... 154 Rufus Adams .............................................................................................. 170 Frank D. Ada111s ·······································································-··············· 171 Spencer D. Ada111s .................................................................................... 180 Pilling's Ranch, Alberta, Canada .........................................................